1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a side-emitting LED package for emitting light from one side thereof, and a manufacturing method of the same. More particularly, the invention relates to a side-emitting LED package which has a reflecting surface easily manufactured in a desired form, can be mass-produced in a compact size regardless of an LED chip size, and can easily be adapted to have an LED array inside thereof, thereby significantly improving productivity, and a manufacturing method of the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a backlight such as used in a mobile phone or a PDA adopts an LED package having a light transmitting surface in one side thereof for its light source.
Such LED packages are becoming slimmer as the mobile phones are becoming slimmer nowadays.
Aside-emitting LED package 200 illustrated in FIG. 1(a) is a structure, in which a molded body 210 covers a lead frame having an LED chip therein, and thus its thickness is limited to be about 0.5 T. Therefore, such a method is limited in reducing the thickness.
FIG. 1(b) illustrates another structure of LED package 230. In this conventional technology, an LED chip 234 is mounted on a substrate 232, which is covered by a molded body 236 having a cavity therein bonded to the substrate 232. Then, a solution of phosphor and epoxy mixed together is injected and cured in the cavity, and diced afterwards. This conventional method, however, entails a complicated process, and thus is not efficient in terms of productivity.
FIG. 2(a) illustrates another conventional side-emitting LED package 250. This conventional structure is taught in Japanese Patent Application Publication 1997-83019, in which an LED is used for a light source 252, and light from the LED is induced toward one side of the package to be emitted out of the package.
In this conventional structure, an outer surface of the light source 252 is wrapped with a lens, and a retainer 256 wraps around the lens 254. The retainer 256 has an opening in one side to form a light transmitting surface 256a, and a reflecting surface 258 is formed on the opposite side of the light transmitting surface 258 inside the retainer 256.
This conventional structure also, however, entails a complicated and cumbersome manufacturing process, in which the retainer 256 and the reflecting surface 258 should be prepared separately to wrap around the lens 254.
In addition, FIG. 2(b) illustrates another LED package 270, which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,674,096 granted to Sommers, Mathew L. In this structure, a molded part 274 wraps around an LED chip 272, and has a centrally depressed reflecting surface 276 on an upper surface thereof. The reflecting surface 276 has a reflective layer 278 formed thereon to form a light transmitting surface around the sides of the molded part 274. However, this conventional technology also bears a problem in that the light transmitting surface 280 is not formed in one particular direction, and thus the reflected light is not focused but tends to be scattered.